Typographical composing machine



Marph l, 1955 P. HILPMAN 2,703,171

' TYPOGRAPHICAL COMPOSING MACHINE Filed July 9, 1952 I INVENTOR:

-Ml BY WM Km ai 84 MB,

United States Patent 2,703,171 I TYPOGRAPHICAL COMPOSING MACHINE PaulHilpman, Garden City, N. Y., assignor to- Mergenthaler Linotype Company,a corporation of New York Application July 9, 1952, Serial No. 297,886

3 Claims. (Cl. 199-.45)

This invention relates to typographical composing machines, such asLinotype machines of the general organization represented in LettersPatent of the United States No. 436,532 to O. Mergenthaler, whereincirculating matrices are released from a magazine in the order in whichtheir characters are to appear in print and then composed in line, thecomposed line transferred to the face of a mold, the mold filled withmolten metal to form a slug or type bar against the matrices whichproduce the characters thereon, and the matrices thereafter elevated andreturned through distributing mechanism to the magazine from which theystarted.

The magazines serve as storage cases for different matrix fonts and, tothis end, are independently removable and replaceable in such machines.Generally, machines are equipped with a plurality of magazines, oneabove the other, the magazines being supported on separate base framesthat can be spread apart to permit access to the magazine to be removed.Each base frame is equipped with a pivoted magazine lifting andsupporting plate which is adapted to be swung upwardly to raise thelower end of the magazine above the assembler throat into position forremoval.

On all typographical machines of this general organization, it isessential that the magazine hug the base frame, especially at the upwardend, to retain the proper relationship between the upper end of themagazine and the lower end of the channel entrance, which latterconnects the distributor with the operative magazine. This properrelationship is essential to insure smooth passage for the matrices intotheir respective storage channels in the magazine. At present, it is thecurrent design on all commercial machines to rely on gravity to hold themagazines against the frames, but the upper section of the magazine isusually void of matrices and, consequently, lacks sutficient weight toinsure proper seating. This condition often results in additionalfactory cost to overcome the deficiency. In addition, in typographicalmachines of the high speed class, described in a pending application ofL. Rossetto et al., Serial No. 184,072, filed September 9, 1950, theinclination of the magazine is seventy degrees (70) from the horizontal,much steeper than the normal angle of inclination of about thirty-sevendegrees (37) in standard machines, wherefore it is apparent that thegravity design is even less effective in maintaining the desiredrelationship between the magazine and the channel entrance in machinesof this latter class.

One of the objects of the present invention is to overcome the abovedefects at a minimum cost and without requiring any additional manualmanipulation or attention on the part of the operator, who is burdenedenough by the weight of the magazines in removing and replacing them.Toward this end, pressure exerting means, of a self-locking andself-releasing character, are provided to hold the upper end of themagazine firmly down upon the base frame when the magazine is in itsoperative position.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the upper portion of a magazine base frameequipped with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a right side elevation, partly in cross section, of a magazineand its supporting frame, illustrating the normal and locked position ofthe magazine; and

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, illustrating the raised and unlockedposition of the magazine.

The matrices are delivered to their proper storage channels in amagazine 1 after passing through a channel entrance 2 leading from thedistributor. In composition, the matrices are released fromjth lower ordischarge end of the magazine by the usual escapements (not shown).

The magazine is mounted on a base frame 3 which is provided with a longpivoted longitudinal member or center board 4 having a lippo'r'tion 5 atits extreme lower end. At its upper end, the center board is pivotallyconnected to the base frame-" 3 by means of lateral pins 6, and thecenter board is forrned with a longitudinal groove 7 (Fig. 1) to receiveandgiride the usual longitudinal center bar 8 of the magazine. Thecenter bar 8 is attached to the back or underside of the magazine bymeans of several parallel cross-ribs '9, and it is not quite as long asthe magazine, so that the magazine slightly overhangs the center bar.The magazine rests against banking surfaces on the base frame 3 at theextreme upper and lower ends thereof, the upper banking surface beingdesignated by the reference character 3, and the magazine is bothlocated and supported by the engagement of the lower end of the centerbar 8 against the lip 5. In commercial machines, safety provision (notshown) is made to prevent the magazine from sliding off the lower end ofthe center bar.

When the machine is equipped with a plurality of magazines, themagazines and their respective base frames are nested together in veryclose parallel relation, and in order to facilitate the removal andreplacement of magazines, the nesting arrangement is first fanned outand the magazine to be removed is then raised from the base frame bypivotally lifting the lower end off the center board 4. Such lifting of'the center board is effected by depressing a hand lever 10 mounted atthe left side of the base frame 3. The hand lever (see Fig. 3) isconnected to a centrally located plate or cam 11 by a horizontalrockshaft 12 in the baseframe 3, and at one side the plate is providedwith an; upstanding latch 11 which is adapted to engage a laterallyprojecting pin of the center board 4 in its raised position. The uppersurface of the plate 11 underlies a downwardly depending arm or flap 13loosely pivoted in thelframe 3 above the rockshaft 12, and thearrangement is such that as the plate 11 is rotated by the rockshaft ina counterclockwise direction from the position indicated in Fig. 2 tothe position indicated in Fig. 3, the upper surface of the plate camsthe arm 13 upwardly in a clockwise direction against the underside ofthe center'board 4, thereby raising both the center board and themagazine thereon. The latch 11 maintains the center board in its raisedposition while the magazine is removed and replaced. The reversal of theprocess is accomplished by raising the lever 10.

The above parts and their mode of operation are standard in the machinedescribed in the aforementioned patent application, and are generallysimilar to the arrangement shown and described in the McNamara PatentNo. 1,586,316.

As explained above, the matrices stored in the magazine fall by gravityto the lower end thereof and, consequently, the magazine does not alwayshave sufiicient weight at the top to insure proper seating against theupper banking surface 3, especially in cases where the lower plate orbottom surface of the magazine is slightly bent or warped. Thiscondition causes the upper receiving end of the magazine to be out ofline with the discharge end of the channel entrance, depriving thematrices of a smooth passage therebetween.

In order to maintain the proper relation between the magazine and thechannel entrance, the present invention provides a hold down catch inthe form of a hook end spring 15 to exert pressure on the magazine toforce it against the seat 3. The spring 15 is fastened at its lower endto the base frame 3 directly underneath the center board 4, while theupper hook end extends through and above the center board, the upper endof the grooved portion of the center board being slotted or cut away at4 for this purpose. The location and the forward bend in the springcause it to bear against the lower edge 4 of the slot 4; consequently,the spring follows the center board as it is swung toward and from thebase frame 3. The hook is arranged to engage the upper end of themagazine center bar 8- and, as the center board is lowered against thebase frame 3, the spring 15 is cammed back against the frame in theposition shown in Fig. 2, the spring being designed to exert a force ofthe order of 20 to 25 lbs. on the upper end of the magazine. It has beenfound that this pressure is sufiicient to afford proper seating. Whenthe center boardv 4 is raised (see Fig. 3), the hook end of the spring.travels forwardly, following the slot edge 4 of the center board andreleasing the pressure exerted on the center bar 8, so that the magazinecan be readily removed and replaced.

The raising and lowering of the center board is always necessary whenchanging magazines, and since the locking and releasing operations ofthe spring catch 15 are automatically controlled by the movement of thecenter board, it is evident that no additional manual effort is imposedon the operator.

The present invention has been shown and described in preferred form andas applied to a machine of the high speed class merely by way ofexample; obviously it is equally applicable to standard machines,wherein the angle of inclination of the magazines is thirty-sevendegrees (37) from the horizontal. In other words, many variations andmodifications may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention, and it should be understood, therefore, that the invention isnot to be limited to any specific form or arrangement except insofar assuch limitations are specified in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a typographical composing machine, the combination of a matrixstorage magazine, a base frame upon which the magazine is supported,said base frame having a seating surface at its upper end against whichthe upper end of the magazine is adapted to bank by gravity, a

magazine supporting and lifting member pivoted at its upper end inthe-base. frame at a point near but below saidmagazine seating surface,and a spring catch which holds the magazine under pressure down upon theseating surface of the base frame when said pivoted member occupies itsnormal or lower position, said catch being located below said pivotedmember with its lower end anchored to the base frame at a point remotefrom the pivot and with its upper hook shaped end in engagement with anunderpart of the magazine below the upper end thereof, and said pivotedmember when in its normal or lower position engaging and holding thespring catch under the desired stress and when in its raised positionreleasing said catch and permitting its hook shaped upper end to bedisengaged from the magazine.

2. A combination according to claim 1, wherein the magazine is providedwith a longitudinal center bar which fits into a corresponding grooveformed in the pivoted member and which terminates short of the upper endof the magazine, and wherein the hook shaped upper end of the springcatch engages from above the upper end of said center bar.

3. A combination according to claim 1, wherein the pivoted member isslotted at its upper end and wherein the spring catch enters said slotin the raised position of said member in becoming disengaged from themagazine.

References. Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS848,310 Kennedy Mar. 26, 1907 1,586,3l6 McNamara May 25, 1926 2,157,795Mead May 9, I939

